ANNISTON, Alabama — State officials say a man charged with killing an Anniston police officer last week had previously been sentenced to 5 years in prison, but was released after serving a little more than a year.

Joshua Eugene Russell is charged with the murder of Officer Justin Sollohub, who died a day after he was shot on routine patrol. Russell is being held without bond at the Etowah County Jail.

The Anniston Star reports that in 2009, Russell was convicted on drug distribution and obstruction of justice charges. A Calhoun County judge ordered Russell to serve four concurrent five-year sentences.

Cynthia Dillard, the executive director of State Board of Pardons and Paroles, says Russell was freed under a law that grants most non-violent offenders early release if they don't break prison rules.

Anniston police understand that the Good Time Law helps with one of the criminal justice system's biggest problems: overcrowding.

"Yeah, we're one of the most overcrowded systems in the nation," Lt. Fred Forsythe acknowledged.

In fiscal year 2010, one-third of the nearly 13,000 state inmates released from prison were freed based on the law, Department of Corrections spokesman Brian Corbett said.

Alabama Sentencing Commission statistics show that the state's prisons are currently at nearly double their capacity.

"It's not fiscally possible to incarcerate all drug offenders in the state," Wright said. "We try to prioritize very, very limited resources."